Billions wasted on needless tax payments

THE average UK taxpayer is set to waste £189 on unnecessary tax payments this year, it has been estimated.

Failure to take advantage of tax benefits and allowances is likely to cost UK taxpayers up to 9 billion in avoidable tax, with the biggest single wastage through low take-up of tax credits at a cost of nearly 4bn, according to the annual Tax Action report from independent financial advice group Unbiased.

An estimated 2bn is wasted on avoidable inheritance tax liabilities, while 871 million of unnecessary tax is paid as a result of failing to make charitable donations through the gift aid system and 742m of pension tax breaks go unclaimed. Yet the report found that, while almost a third of Britons expect taxes to increase following the upcoming election, 86 per cent admitted to doing nothing to lower their tax payments.